भाष्य सध्या फक्त इंग्रजीत उपलब्ध आहे. मराठी भाषांतर प्रगतीपथावर आहे.
Acts 5 — We Ought to Obey God Rather Than Men
Ananias and Sapphira lie about their gift to the church; both fall dead. Great fear comes upon all. Many signs and wonders are wrought; people lay the sick in the streets that Peter's shadow might fall on them. The high priest arrests the apostles; an angel opens the prison; at dawn they are teaching in the temple. Brought again before the council — we ought to obey God rather than men. Gamaliel counsels patience. They are beaten and forbidden, and rejoice to suffer shame for His name.
“Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.”
— Acts 5:29
- v.1-11 Ananias and Sapphira
- v.12-16 Signs, wonders, growth
- v.17-32 Arrest, deliverance, second trial
- v.33-42 Gamaliel's counsel; rejoicing in shame
A counter-intuitive verse. The deaths of Ananias and Sapphira had filtered the church. Casual association with the apostles became frightening; only the serious came near. Yet the people magnified them — the church's holiness drew respect even as it deterred trifling participation.
A church too easy to join is often too easy to leave. Where the presence of God is honored seriously, the casual stay outside and the hungry come in.
The clearest statement of the Christian's ultimate allegiance. When the orders of men contradict the commands of God, God wins — not in private resentment but in open obedience.
The principle does not produce anarchy; the apostles were peaceable men who paid taxes and respected rulers. But on the gospel itself they did not negotiate. The line is drawn where human authority requires disobedience to God.
Rejoicing. They had been beaten (v.40). The natural response is anger or fear; theirs was joy. The shame of being publicly humiliated for Jesus was reframed as worthiness.
For his name. The criterion of joyful suffering. Suffering that is for our own contribution is not honored; suffering that is for the Name is. Make sure, when you are mistreated, it is for Him and not for something else mixed in.
Verse 41 measures the maturity of a Christian. The instinct in mistreatment is to defend the self; the apostles rejoice that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. You will know how much His name has become precious to you by how you respond when you are mocked for it. Aim not for the absence of suffering but for the joy that turns suffering into honor.
Christ's name runs through the chapter. Ananias lied to His Spirit; the people magnified those who acted in His name; the apostles refused to be silent about Him; they rejoiced to suffer shame for His name. Acts 5 shows a church whose entire bearing is shaped by the One they will not stop preaching, and whose worst suffering becomes their highest honor when it is on His behalf.
Lie to the Holy Ghost. The gift was theirs to give or to keep (v.4); the sin was the pretense of full devotion while withholding. Hypocrisy in the church is treated as direct lying to God.
The early church was given a vivid lesson: the Spirit is no abstraction. He knows; He acts; He is to be feared. The honesty of the church is meant to be like the honesty of a holy house — not curated for the audience.